Honeywell Q&A: Ken West on Energy & Hard-to-Abate Sectors

An underappreciated part of the energy sector is the technology companies that provide its backbone. These are the organisations whose tech helps to facilitate the generation, distribution and transformation of power, as well as the maintenance of infrastructure.

Honeywell is a company that falls squarely into this category. While not an energy producer itself, the US firm's technology can be found all over the industry, from oil and gas networks, to grids, to renewables.

At the beginning of the year, Honeywell created a new division of its business called Honeywell Process Technology, with the express aim of facilitating the energy transition.

Heading up this branch of the company is Ken West, a Honeywell veteran committed to delivering clients products and services that can help them reduce emissions and waste.

Ken shares his insights with Sustainability Magazine.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role.

I lead the Honeywell Process Technology business segment, where we combine more than a century of deep domain expertise with nearly five decades of digital innovation to help customers in the energy and industrial sectors solve some of the world’s toughest challenges. 

Honeywell has recently undergone a significant transformation to make it a focused, pure-play automation and technology provider.

In my role, I am focused on helping our customers achieve responsible energy expansion through efficient project execution and better long-term performance. 

Ultimately, we are helping customers reduce complexity, improve reliability and deliver more at a lower cost.

For our readers, can you explain what the Process Technology division of Honeywell is?

Honeywell Process Technology supports customers across the energy sector with a differentiated portfolio of process technologies, engineering solutions and differentiated equipment that enable our customers to operate safely, efficiently and reliably. 

As global demand for energy continues to grow, we help customers get more out of existing assets while enabling them to bring new capacity online faster.

How can Honeywell help the world meet the rising demand for energy?

As energy demand increases and the landscape becomes more complex – shaped by geopolitical pressures and ageing infrastructure – we are seeing two big shifts. 

First, an increased focus on using AI to improve efficiency. Second, a greater emphasis on energy security. 

Our job is to provide solutions that help customers drive responsible energy expansion in the quickest and easiest way possible, by getting more out of existing assets. 

Through Honeywell’s connected controls, automation and autonomous operations, customers can improve efficiency, increase reliability and reduce downtime, ultimately producing more output without the need to build new facilities or infrastructure. 

In addition to making existing operations more efficient, we also facilitate responsible energy expansion by providing access to a broader range of fuels, like LNG.

We also help to drive the kind of technological innovation that allows for a broader range of feedstocks in the production of sustainable aviation fuel and other renewables. 

In your eyes, what role will LNG play in the future of energy?

LNG will play a critical role in the future of energy as a reliable fuel source that can be transported across continents. 

It offers customers a scalable, transportable and proven way to access energy, particularly in regions where domestic resources may be limited.

LNG is an important part of a balanced and diversified energy mix. No single fuel will meet the world’s needs and LNG helps support energy security.

This is more important than ever, as demand increases with the growth of AI and data centers. The key to meeting the energy demand challenge will be addition and LNG becomes a long-term part of that solution. 

As LNG projects continue to scale, there is a stronger focus on speed, predictability and simplicity. That’s where Honeywell’s technologies can bring real value.

How can your company's technology and expertise help to reduce carbon emissions in hard-to-abate sectors? 

Right now, we are helping to reduce carbon emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like cement, steel and power generation with our Advanced Solvent Carbon Capture (ASCC) technology.

Factories and plants burn fuel in the process of making these materials, producing hot exhaust known as flue gas. Our ASCC technology can capture CO₂ from these sites before it reaches the atmosphere even at hot post-combustion temperatures – a unique differentiator that helps eliminate a second cooling step prior to CO₂ compression. 

By reducing cooling requirements and overall energy use, the technology can help lower both capital and operating costs, making large-scale carbon capture more practical for existing industrial facilities.

What role is Honeywell playing in the energy sectors of emerging markets?

We support energy customers across the globe, including in emerging markets where infrastructure and access to traditional fuels can be more limited. 

We work directly with customers to help design, build and operate new refining, petrochemical and LNG facilities. This includes everything from early-stage concept development to long-term operational support, helping ensure projects are set up for success from the very start.

For example, we are working with refineries in Africa, where expanding local capacity is critical to meeting the energy needs of the rapidly growing population. 

Our recent work with Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE includes initiatives to increase refining capacity, expand petrochemical production and provide workforce training – all contributing to energy security in the region. 

As a long-term partner, we work alongside customers to build and operate energy systems that are scalable, efficient and tailored to local needs, helping provide access to reliable energy.

What are you most excited about when it comes to the future of energy?

What excites me most is the sheer scale of the opportunity ahead. The world is going to need significantly more energy in the years to come and meeting that demand will require a combination of innovation, efficiency and new ways of thinking about how energy is produced and delivered.

We are entering a phase where technology will increasingly define who succeeds. 

We are already seeing meaningful progress in industries that are adopting AI. In our own business, we are converting billions of data points captured each day through our Connected Solutions into valuable insights that improve decision-making and help train the next generation of plant operators. 

As these technologies continue to evolve, they have the potential to fundamentally change how energy systems work.

Looking ahead, the future will be shaped by how effectively we bring together a diverse mix of energy sources and technologies. Successfully balancing cost, reliability and performance across the mix will be critical, and Honeywell is ready to help customers navigate that complexity.